Mechanism for machine finished matching or edge jointing lumber for stock of nonuniform width



June 1940. F. A. NICHOLSON El AL 9 MECHANISM FOR MACHINE FINISHED MATCHING OR EDGE JOINTING LUMBER FOR STOCK OF NONUNIFORM WIDTH Filed Dec. 21, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 M9 INVENTORS M11. M07 7: PR! Tc/M RD F 2 F/PEDF/P/C/Y 1.9 lV/Cl/OL s 0 IV I}. I BY ATTORNEY June 1940. F. A. NICHOLSON El AL 2,204,439

MECHANISM FOR MACHINE FINISHED MATCHING OR EDGE JOINTING LUMBER FOR STOCK OF NONUNIFORM WIDTH I Filed Dec. 21, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNvEgToR S 14 Mo 7' 7: fine/M00 FEEDER/CA ,9, NICHOLS o /v F 4 BY 4 ATTORNEY June 11, 1940. F NlcHOLSON r AL 2,204,439

MECHANISM FOR MACHINE FINISHED MATCHING OR EDGE JOINTING LUMBER FOR s'rocx 0F NONUNIFORM WIDTH Filed Dec; 21, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 J1me 1940- F. A. NICHOLSON ET A1. 2,204,439

MECHANISM FOR MACHINE FINISHED MATCHING OR EDGE JOINTING LUMBER FOR STOCK 0F NONUNIFORM WIDTH Filed Dec. 21, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS ML M07 7: P/P/TCHHRO rneosmc/r I. NICHOLS o N TTORNEY.

June 11, 1940. NICHOLISOIN ET AL F. A. MECHANISM FOR MACHINE FINI SHED MATCHING 0R EDGE JOINTING LUMBER FOR STOCK OF NONUNIFORM WIDTH Filed Dec. 21, 1936 5 Sheets- Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS.

transferring the'stock from a lower fixed gui'd l5isreadily removed and thus reduce the'time period to 1" x4" and is finished to next commercial size flooring known is rough sawn' Patented June 11, 1940 UNITED? s 'rares MECHANISM FOR- MACHINE I FINISHED MATCHEN G OR' EDGE JOINTING LUMBER FOR STOCK F NONUNIFORM WIDTH.

' Frederick A. Nicholson and Wilmot T. Pritchard,

Seattle, Wash, assignors toStetson-Ross Machine Company, Seattle, Wash, a purports-- tion of Washington Application December 21, 1936, Serial No.l16,365

14 Claims.

The invention relates to mechanism for machine finished matching or edge jointinglumber from stock of nonuniform widths; p

More particularly, our invention relates to a mechanism which. prepares the traveling stock of nonuniform widths by removing or jointing all excess portion of thestock over a predetermined width. Also, the mechanism is characterized by a transfer means which provides for ing table to an .upper fixed guiding table; and lastly, the mechanism is characterized by having its parts so mounted that they maybe readily' retracted in-order that jammed stock may be incident to shut-downs.

In cutting the lumber stockirom 'the tree,

most mills will cut predetermined size of-cantsor timbers from the log to obtainthe -maximumdimensioned pieces or toobtain sizes of a given order, andthe remainder of the logwill be cut to permit most complete utilization of the lumber stock remaining. For example, in the fir lumber mills a large size piece of timberor cant, such. as 12'. X 24" of the length of the logs are At all times suchcants are of fulloften cut. size-and often are out considerably oversize-"in order to insure that this cant will not be'undersize. That is, in cutting timber or cants to fill --an. order it is the practice to out oversize to insure that thelcant or timber will not be of a size less than the dimensions required by that order.

The tendency is to cut oversize'and many times much oversizetotake care of any errorswhich Imay arise by reason of the mechanical limita tions ofsthe equipment or, human errors, which inaccuracies particularly arise by reasonof'the great speedat which it is'attemptedto work the equipment, as required by present day commercial operations. The remainder. of the log is then cut into sizes tobe used for other stock, as flooring stock.

In flooring stock, the; lumber stock rough sawn to 1" x 3" is finished to approximately it" x 2 7 The next size flooring is rough sawn X 3%". The

to l x 6'. and. is finished to 5-3" x 5%". After stock, 1" X 4" stock or 1" x 6" stock. Very often due-to the fact-that this stock is cut from ,the remainder of the log,,i.t will not measure up,

to full width and a piece intended for 1"' x 4" ,stock, for example, will not have sufiicient excess to permitfinishlngto 3%. x 3%fi', so that the same must beput in the 1" x 3" stock.- Also a piece in, the l" x 6" stock may be a small amount under width so thatit must'go inthe 1". x 4" stock. This remainder of thelogmaybeof such a size so that when stockis cuttherefrom there will be provided a number of pieces roughly sawn vwhich willmeasureless than enoughreserve-to finish a board to a width ofi5 therefrom and more than enough 'to ,finish aboard to a ,Width '10 of 3 These will be too small for thel x 6: stock and may be up to .1787 over thefinished width of a 3%" finished piece of lumber.

Besides the boards that, are undercutin width, manyboards shrink-in the ,drying" operation so 15 that. they shrink undersize and must be .putln I the next smaller-size. Also. many boards must be placed in the next smaller stockgbecause' of the imperfection and inaccuracies; due to the rough sawing operations. For example, it is the 20. practice to speed up the. production of therough sawsas much as possible and inapproachingthe mechanical, limitations ofthe .rough sawing. I means, .the'.saws will; often tendto-follow the,v grain ofthe stock, rather than. following a -25, straight line. Also in an attempt to increasethe production, the lumber isfed pastthel rough sawing means at such.;high.speed, which places such excessive strains on the sawing means, that the sawing'means will tend to bend andnot saw ina straight line. Such lumber is often .encountered andfis, generally termed in the art as. snakey lumber? It isreadily seenthat if. a board is attempted to be sawn, for example to 1! x 4" size, so that the same will dress out -;3,' x 3 9, and the edges are wavered withine dentations therein amounting to as much as. 7, such lumber can only dress out to x 2%! and will be undersized for. rough sawn l'-' x 4"" stock,. 1 I 40 The modern lumber manufacturingplant is an in-line production establishment.- In such an establishment, for reasons above set forth,.the lumber stock fed to a planer will come from the line of production with manyoverwidth boards. 5 This has proved a serious problem in the lumber trade. Many solutions have been attempted, none of which have been completely successful.

Attempt hasbeen made to sortout the over width pieces so that they, were not mixed in with I p the pieces of substantially the proper width. This has proved unsatisfactory; because of labor costs in separating out these, oversize boards, and it hasalso proved unsuccessful because the: oversize boards must be cut down to. the right size by .55..

sawing mechanisms as a separate operation. This, of course, again increased the cost. When these sorted out overwidth boards in lots or loads are run through a matcher or edge jointer without being reduced substantially to the proper width, this places an extremely heavy overload on the matchers or edge jointers and often burned out the motors. It has been impractical to increase the size of the motors to take care of the overloads because if the horse power of the motors was calculated for efficiency at normal running loads, the motors would be undersized for the overload of running selected overwidth boards. On the other hand, if the motor horse power were selected to take care of overwidth boards, the motors would be ineiiicient at normal loads, and there is also the physical limitations concerning space required by larger motors.

The most successful prior art commercial practice, therefore, has been to run the boards indiscriminately through the planer, whether they were overwidth or standard width and thereby prevent overloads on the motors for long periods. However, the matchcr and edge jointer mechanism would not operate successfully at a high rate of speed on such a heterogeneous stock, including overwidth boards, and it has been necessary to slow down the rate of production, by approximately 50%, in many cases. to permit the matcher or edge jointer to run on mixed stock. This for the reason that the failure to slow down causes such an increased load on the machine that the machine may stop because of such overload conditions on the operating parts. or because of brealoup of the lumber stock within the machine. This break-up of lumber stock re sults in costly shut-downs incident to removing the pieces of the jammed stock from the machine.

In the iii-line production lumber mills it has been considered that the most desirable commercial practice was to run the stock mixed, i. e., with the overwidth pieces appearing when they would, and to permit the edge matchers or edge iointers to remove the excess width and to slow down the machine to a practical commercial speed, considering the particular stock being run. Besides overwidth pieces which appear in a given stock, very often mill will have a sale for i -Z x2%" lumber, and they will have considerable 1" X4." rough stock on hand. If the l were cut off to get the lumber down to proper rough size, this 1" piece cut off would be a use less piece of lumber stock and the labor required in handling the stock, in cutting off this 1", and disposing of the same would be an unnecessary cost. 'Therefore, it has been the practice to often run 1"x4" rough stock or larger to produce --2-" x2 4 finished lumber. This excess width was removed by the edge jointers or matchers and conditions similar to the overwidth pieces heretofore considered would obtain.

Thus, in commercial practice at in-line production lumber mills, non-uniform boards have been run direct to the matcher and edge jointer mechanism and the speed of production has been slowed down to permit the mechanism to operate on stock, including many overwidth boards therein. However, this slowing down of the rate of production has not taken care of the problem for many reasons. First, if a cutter head attempts to take off more than substantially of stock, at practical production rates of feed, we have discovered, after extended experimentation, that the tearing action of the cutterhead in removing such a large part of stock causes a force tending to rip and tear the grain of the stock in excess of the cohesive strength of the stock to withstand such ripping or tearing. The result has been, therefore, to loosen or rip the grain below the cut edge approximately 3 of an inch or of an inch, depending upon the character and species of the stock, speed of operation, and the amount being cut off. Second, due to the fact that the chip breakers will be violently urged outwardly by an overwidth piece of stock, the cutter heads tend to inisalign the lumber stock and to side or edge snip the tail end of a preceding board of substantially the proper width, as well as the leading end of a trailing board of extremely wide width. This violent urging of the chip breakers out of position tends to leave the lumber stock unsupported and free to vibrate and become snipped.

We have discovered that a pre-edge jointer or a pre-edge hogger means constituting the present invention may be placed in combination with a planing machine so that the stock will be pre pared for final edge jointing by the matcher heads in the planing machine and substantially perfect edge jointing or matching will result.

In providing for pre-jointing or pro-hogging the board, we find that it is most desirable to adopt the following procedure. First: An inside cutter is provided to joint off the crooks and bumps only to provide a true edge to run against the long guide extending through the machine. It is important to have a true edge to follow the guide and this is particularly true as the lumber stools passes through the finishing. tonguing and grooving or matching heads or edge jointer. Second: A pro-jointing or pro-hogging cutter head is positioned to operate on the opposite edge of the board and to remove all excess width from the lumber stock.

We have also found that if the edges of the lumber are thus pro-bogged or pro-jointed, just prior to entering the planing machine, that the extreme vibrationwhich is up by such edge jointing in removing excessive lumber stock may be isolated from the planing machine so as not to interfere with the operation of the planing machine in providing a smooth surface and permit the highest quality of finishing work possible.

We have also found that any tearing or gouging or injuring which is caused by the pre-cdge joints-rs or pre edge hoggers will not extend ordinarily into the edges of the lumber more than about or an inch or about of an inch so that sumcient excess may be reserved so that these torn, gouged or injured portions will be removed by the final edge jointers or matchers.

We have also discovered that the removal, by a pre edger or pre-hogger. of excessive width from one edge of the board, does not interfere with the final edge jointing of the board, de spite the fact that ordinarily extremely heavy cuts on one edge tend to pull the board away from the fixed guide line. This is due to the fact that the feeding mechanism of the planer is positioned between the pro-hogging device and the final edge matchers, so that such feeding mechanism will force the lumber against the fixed guide edge and overcome any tendency of the hogging device to pull the lumber away from the guide edge because of excessive heavy cutting,

We have also found that, with a machine embodying our present invention, the lumber may be run at an extremely high rate of speed, such as 500 feet per minute, regardless of the uniiormity of the width of the stock being fed. This is to be contrasted with prior art machines where the speed was commercially'reduced substan tially 50% when mixed stock, including many overwidth boards, was run through the machine.

We have also found that where a pre-edge jointeror a pre-edge hogger is employed just prior to the lumber entering the planing 1nachine, that it will not interfere with the practical in-line production'mill practices of today, so that lumber is not decreased in width until it is actually determined just what lumberis to be produced from said lumber stock.

The mechanism of our present invention is designed especially to work in connection with the planer constituting our invention set forth in application Serial No. 91,568, now Patent No. 2,102,186. But, obviously the invention is not to be restricted to any such specific machine, but extends to all such where like conditions exist in whole or in part. It is a feature of said planer that the upper feed bed is fixed during operation, while the lower feed bed is resiliently supported. Inthe feed table of common practice design, and which is in place in present mill installations, the lower feed bed is fixed and accordingly the mechanism of the present invention provides for transferring the stock from a, fixed lower feed table to a lower resiliently supported feed table.

The primary object of our invention is to pro vide a mechanism which will overcome the many complex diiiiculties detailed above and to provide a mechanism characterized by a greatly increased efliciency, and a decided savingin operation in connection with one of our most important natural resources. Particularly is it our object to. prevent the wasting of stock on which much labor has been .spent by reason of the tearing or gouging of the grain of the wood and the shipping of the end portions. Also, it is a primary object of our invention to provide for the transfer of the stock from a lower fixed bed toan upper fixed bed and to provide for the,

operations of each are synchronized and dovetailed with the other.

In practice, where a board is edge snipped, the

final matcher or jointer heads gouge out ,a portion on an edge of theboard and provide'an opp sitely disposed raised portion adjacentthereto. The length of the edge snips often run four or five inches. Whenever stock is edge snipped, it is necessary to remove such edge snips toprovide perfect processed lumber. tion of the stock which is edge snipped, requires reducing the length of, the stock to the next shorter standard length to comply with standard grading rules and practices. In some boards and lengths, there is a two foot difference between standard lengths, so a snipped edge will require in some cases a loss of two feet of timber stock. For example, if a twelve foot board has an edge, at one end thereof, snipped it will be necessary to cut the board to a ten foot board to remove such snipped edge, as there is no standard eleven foot length board, involving on such a board a loss of sixteen and two-thirds percent of the stock. Such loss has heretofore involved an To remove the porannular :lossof L tremendous proportions of one voffour chief natural resources and the machine embodying our invention operates with only a negligible or no loss whatever caused by edge shipping, thus conserving time, labor and one of our valuable fast diminishing. natural resources. :The above mentioned general objects of our invention, together with others inherent in the same, are attained by the mechanism illustrated in the following drawings, the same being preferred exemplary forms of embodiment of our invention, throughout which drawings like refmechanism, which is shown in Figure 1 to the ieft of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. '5 isa plan view of the pre-edge jointing means shown in Fig. 2; Fig.6 is a plan view of the feeding table mechanism shown; in Fig. 3; Fig; '7 is a [somewhat diagrammatic view, with parts omittedand parts broken away, illustrating thetransfermechanism between the feeding table and the pro-edge jointer mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a detached elevation'of a side holdover roll and mounting means therefor;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of parts of the'hold-over roll shown in Fig. 8; g i

Fig; 10 is a fragmentary plan view showing an alternative. construction of a cutting means for the pre-edge jointer means;

:Fig, 11 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the supporting means of feed rolls l2 and I3.

"Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, we have shown schematically the various parts of the mechanism. The infeed end of the machine The I i to the right of Figure 1 of the drawings. lumber is fed to feed rolls l0 and 29 by any feeding mechanism, such as the standard feed table mechanism, in part shown to the'right of Fig, 6 of the drawings. The lumber is fedby feed rolls ii and 29 atan accelerated rate through a tunn l orpassageway II and thereby in end to end relation pastfioatingly or resiliently mounted feed rolls Hand [3.

thelowerface cutter head l8 and upper face cutter head it, and also urge the lumber past final edge matchers 2B, which edge joint or match both sides of the lumber.

"If desirablafface pattern forming cutter heads orprofilers 2i and 22 may be provided. The lumber is urged past such profilers and to the foutfeeding end of the machine and out through outfeeding rolls 23 and 24. The planing mechanism proper, commencing with iced beds It and H, and endingwith out- I The resiliently mounted feed rolls l2 and I3 urge the lumber past hog ill feeding rolls Z3 and 24, is of the type generally disclosed in our copending application Serial No. 91,568 and is herein referred to in general as the planer mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 6 of the drawings, at the right hand end thereof a fragmentary portion of a feed table mechanism is illustrated. The lumber stock is urged in the direction generally indicated by arrows 25, where the feeding mechanism 26, generally referred to in the art as a pineapple, urges the lumber forwardly between feed rolls I and 28 (driven by any suitable means not shown). Feed rolls in and 29 are caused to rotate at a substantially greater speed than floatingly mounted feed rolls IE and [3. The feed roll 18 is shown in plan in Fig. 6 of the drawings and the feed rolls ill and 29 are shown in elevation in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Lower feed roll 23 is mounted for rotary movement on a fixed shaft. Upper feed roll Hi is mounted on a resiliently mounted shaft in the following manner: The feed roll i0 is fixed to shaft 21, which is journaled or rotates in arm 28, which in turn is hingedly mounted on pin 33 supported by bracket casting 3i mounted. upon the main frame of the machine. Arm 28 has an extended portion 32 in which is mounted pin 33. Link 34 is slidingly mounted in pin 33 and compression spring 3'! is slidingly mounted on said link 3 and is positioned between the pin 33 and a plate 35. The link 34 is pivotally secured to an upper plate 35, which upper plate 35 and lower plate 36 form passageway H. The lower plate 36 is pivotally secured to the main frame of the machine by pivot 38.

Thus, at this end of the machine the lower plate 36 is fixedly mounted, while the corresponding end portion of the upper plate 35 is resiliently mounted. The forward end of plate 36 is resiliently mounted as follows (see Fig. 2) Link 39 is pivotally connected to said plate 38 by pin 4!] and the other end of link 39 is slidingly disposed through arm 45, which arm is an extension of member 42, which. forms the floor of passageway 43, which passageway 43 is a continuation of passageway H. On link 39 is located spring M. Member 42 pivotally supports roll I3 and shaft 45. An upper guide member 43 which cooperates in forming passageway 43 is pivotally connected with an arm it, which is pivotally mounted on the main frame of the machine by pin 41. The arm it provides a bearing for the shaft 12' of the upper feed roll 52.

The forward end of upper plate 35 is movably mounted as follows: Arm 4B of hell crank 52, see Figs. '7 and 2, is pivotally attached to plate 35 by pin 49. Bell crank 52 is pivotally mounted by pin to the main frame M4 of the machine through bracket 5!. Arm 53 of hell crank 52 is pivotally connected by means of pin 54 to rod 55, see also Fig. 3. Rod 55 is slidably mounted through an opening in pin 56, see Figs. 3, 6 and 7, which pin 56 is pivotally mounted in one arm of hell crank 51. Bell crank 5'! is pivotally mounted in bracket 58, which is secured to the main frame of the machine. The other arm of bell crank 51 is pivotally secured by means of pin 59, and link (ill to extension 32 by means of pin 33. It will be noted from Fig. 6 that the two arms of bell crank 5'! are transversely offset as respects each other. Rod 55 is provided with two springs 6i and 52 bearing upon pin 5% as respects two of their ends and held in position on said rod by nuts 63 and 6 1.

In passageway l l are located hold-over rolls 65 and 53. The mounting of each of these is identical and so the mounting of roll 65 alone will be described. (See Figs. 3, 8, and 9.) Roll 65 is rotatably mounted by means of pin 61 to arm 68. Arm 38 is pivotally mounted on shaft 69, which is rotatably supported from plate 36 by means of bracket Hi. In bracket Til is rotatably mounted shaft ll, upon which is mounted worm 72, which meshes with worm wheel 13, which in turn is rigidly attached to shaft 39 by means of a key. On shaft 33 is also rigidly mounted an arm 75, fixed to shaft 89 by means of pin it. Slidably disposed through arm 68 and i5 is bolt 11, upon which at its inner end is slidingly mounted compression spring 18, which may be adjusted by means of nuts 13. Fixedly inserted in bracket it is pin 83, which supports roller 8! disposed to bear against cam 82 carried by arm 68. Holdover rolls 63 and 66 are to hold over or urge sidewise traveling lumber stock against guide member 83, thereby tending to straighten crooked lumber during its passage through the machine.

In the event of an accident and lumber should become jammed in the machine, we have provided efiicient means for readily removing the lumber stock from passageway H by having the hold-over rolls t5 and 63 so mounted so that they may be readily retracted as follows: Rotating shaft 1 l causes shaft 59 to rotate through worm l2 and worm wheel '53, which may swing arm and. resiliently actuate arm 68 by means of spring '18 mounted on bolt 77 in a direction toward guide 83. Then opposite rotation of shaft "H would actuate arm 75 and thereby arm 63 in a direction away from the lumber and guide 85, so as to clear plate 36. Further rotation of shaft 39 eventually permits arm 68 to move downward on account of cam 82 progressively rotating over roll 8!, due to characteristics of cam 82. Thus, hold-over roll 35 takes up a position below the face of lower plate 36, permitting easy removal of lumber from passageway H.

The forward end of the passageway 53 is formed above portion 84 of member lk, which has one end portion pivotally connected to the link I which supports the end portion of said member 42 and the feed roll i3. The other end portion 86 is resiliently supported as follows: portion 84 is pivotally or hingedly connected by pivot means 85 with a link 86. Link 33 is slidingly received within an opening in pin 81, which pin 87 is pivotally mounted on an arm 83. A compression spring 89 is slidingly disposed on link 86 and the spring tension thereof may be adjusted by a suitable means, such as the nut means shown.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 4, the arm 88 has its other end portion pivotally connected with the main frame by pivot means 33. The lower feed bed 1'! has a frame means 92. This frame means 92 has its upper portion pivotally connected by a pivot means 93 with the swinging portion of a bell crank 94 which is pivotally connected with the main frame of the machine by pivot means 95. The bell crank 84 is pivotally connected with one end of a link 96 by pivot means 9'? and the other end of the link 86 is pivotally connected with the arm 83. Thus, as the bell crank 94 is swung counterclockwise, as seen in Fig. 4, about pivot means 95 the link 96 will be urged downwardly and the arm 88 will be also swung downwardly about its pivot means 90. Therefore, as lower feed bed ii is lowered, the portion 84 will be likewise lowered. However,

portion 35 being resiliently mounted by compres sion spring 89 may be urged downwardly by a ered to remove brokenpieces of lumber, theYpor-' .tion 84 may be simultaneously loweredwith lower feed bed I'l. p i I The resilient mounting for the lower feed bed I! may be in the nature of ajsubstantially hori- 'zontally positioned link 53 pivotally connected with thelower portion of the frame means 92 as by pivot meansilfi. A collarIGIl isfpivotallysecured to the main frame of the machine-by pivot means NH. The link means 98fis' slidingly received in the collar I00. Compression springs I92 and I93 are slidingly positioned on the link 98 and heldin place'by any suitable means such as the nut means I04.

A substantially vertical disposed link, I is" pivotally connected with the frame 92 of the lower feed bed Il. This link I05 may be connected with the pivot means- 99. Spring means IE2 is. slidingly positioned onlink I95. The collar IIl'l is also slidinglypositioned on thelink I05. Spring H36 and collar Ill! are held in place with any suitablemeans such as nut means I08. I

The collar It'll is pivotally connected bypivot means M9 to a T shaped arm I ill. 7 The T shaped arm HE! is pivotally connected with the ,main.

frame of themachine by pivot means III to pro vide angular movement ofthe T shaped arm'I I0.

. The link i it? has oneend portion pivotally connected with thelT shaped arm ill]. and the other end portion pivotally'connected with a screw 5 3;

The screw iii-l is 'thr'eadedlyconnected with a worm wheel H t. The worm wheel H4 is held in place between projections H5 secured toth e The worm wheel main frame of the machine. II meshes with a worm I I6. TheT shaped arm I IO'is also pivotally connected to a rod II lj Thus, by the worm wheel and linkdescribed;

T shaped arm Ililfinay' beangularly moved in one direction, whereupon frame'means'llzof the lower feed bed I! will be lowered an'din turn the resiliently supported portion 84 will also'be lowered. Angular movement in the other direction of the T shaped arm III) will raise the feed bed I "I with the resiliently mounted portion 84. As

the lower feedbed I'I is'lowered the rod ill will be'pulled in a direction-towards the left of Fig; 4

of the drawings, while raising of the lower feed bed II willrnove the rod III towards the right as respects Fig. 4 of the drawings. 1

The rod II.'i-"-is pivotally connected by a pivot means II8 withfa'cloverleaf shaped member H9.

The cloverleaf shaped member H9 is fulcrurned on a movable pivot means I20. The movable pivot means I20is pivotally connected with alink I2I,, which link is slidable through projections I22 of the main frame of the machine. Aworm. wheel I23 is threadedly secured to the link HI and meshes with a worm I22. Thus, as the worm I24 is angularly moved, the link I2 I, and in turnthe movable pivot I20, may be raised or lowered; carrying the cloverleaf member H9 therewith. In

the event that the rod I I'Irem'ains stationary. raising or lowering of the movable pivot means I26 will raise or lower another'link- I25 substantially parallel to link I2I.

On the link 1251 slidinglypositioned'a spring means'lzs. The spring; means I29 is positioned between-nut means-I3I fixed to link I25 and 2.

This. connection provides with: the cloverleaf II9.

collarfI'3Il', which collar is slidingly positioned on the link means I25. A nut means I30is threadedly connected to link I25 and serves: as

The collar means,

an adjustment for link I25. iSIl-is pivotally connectedby pivot means I26 Thus the link I25 is pivotally. supported by the cloverleaf H9 and a resilient member I29 is disposed between the col'-' lar means Hill and the fixed nut means I3I onlinl ;"I25. The link I25 is connectedby. pivot means I72! with the housing pivotall-y supporting thelower feed roll I3.;

In theevent that the lower feed bedl'l is low cred, which willin turn lower the portion 84, as previously discussed, also a feed roll I3will be lowered as the rod il'I moves towards the left' as respects Fig. 4 of the drawings. v The move -ment of rod Ii? to the left asrespects Fig. 4 of the drawings will angularly move the cloverleaf shaped member I I9 in a clockwise position about Divot means I28. This will pull link I downwardly and at the same time move the'feed1 roll I3 downwardly. 1 On the other hand, in the event J'the'rod I i! is stationary by ang'ularly moving the worm'iiil the feed roll I 3Emay be raised or lowered. independently ;of;. the lower feed ibedi' IT or resiliently mounted portion. 34, This because such angular movement of the worm I 24 will raise. orlower the cloverleaf.'shapedimember IIQ; and:

in turn the link 525 and feedroll i3.

Referring-to Fig. 2, a. link I32 ispivotally c0n-.

nected at :one end by pivotmeans I33 with the 1 arm 45 supporting the upper feedroll I2. The; lowerencl of the link H2v is slidable within a sleeve} 535;- .An abutment I32 on said link I32 engages the upper end portion. of sleeve I34. A

pivot Iiitis. preferably provided in link 32 at abutment 932'. A sp'ri ng M35 is positioned be tween the sleeve liill arid.nutn1eansv I36, which nut means is threadedly connected; with the link I32. A Warm wheel lffl is threadedly connected with the sleeve [I34 and worm wheel I3? is held in place. between projecting portions I38 of the mainframe of the machine. A worm I39 meshes with wormwheel 131.. By angular movementof theworrn'ltfi the sleeve I l maybe' raised or lowered, raising. therewith the upper feed roll 1 I2. Regardless of the position of' the upper feed roll I2, substantially the samespring tension will be provided by spring l3'5"because of the'adjustment just described.

In the, type of planing mechanism herein illustrated, the'llpper feed line is fixed, whilethe 10W- er feed. line is resiliently mountedl" ,In rder,

therefore, to remove brokenlumber in the event of a'shut-down it is advis'ableto loosen the lums her by moving all of the resiliently'mounted feed rolls or pressure means; We have provided means so that all'of the resiliently mounted feed rolls or pressure meansinthe planing device (see our. 'co pending"application Serial" No; 91,568);

maybe; rapidly lowered by powenmech'anism:

Atxthesam'e time'that the lower'feed; bed- I1 is thus lowered; eitherby' power mechanism or" by fixed line in the mechanism herein illustrated; theinovement ofthe parts thereof will not'be required exceptwhen the machineis readjusted to'take a difierent sized-lumber.-

I Bythe means illustrated,- upper feed roll I2 andlowe'r feed roll I3 arebot'h resiliently mounted rolls and will'therefore tend to readily follow and conform with the surface of the rough lumber stock presented thereto. These feed rolls serve to urge the lumber stock past pre-edge matchers It and I5. Referring to Fig. of the drawings, the pre-edge matcher It extends slightly through the guide 83. By any usual means the side-cutter head may be readily adjusted. The adjustment should be, however, to merely skin or true-up the guide edge of the stock. All excess is to be removed by the pre-eclge matcher or pre-hogger M. The pre-hogger M is adjustable toward and away from the guide 83 to accoininodate for any particular width of lumber desired. For example, if lumber stock having a finished width of two and five-eights inches is desired, the lateral position of the pre-hogger I imay' be set to provide the minimum excess changes to clear up the stock by the final edge matcher Ell. We have discovered that a prehogging head, such as a hogger head I 4, will rip grain because of excessive cutting. The ripped or torn grain may extend approximately oneeighth to one-sixteenth of an inch below the surface so that enough should be reserved to completely remove that ripped or torn grain.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings we have shown prehogging heads I l and. I5 rotatably driven on vertically disposed shafts. In Fig. of the drawings we have shown as an alternative construction, two pre-hogging heads hill and MI disposed on horizontal shafts I42 and I43. ging heads I40 and MI may have cutter heads which are often known as dado cutters, or they may comprise a plurality of saws laid side by side until the desired width of cutting device is thereby made up. In view of the fact that the only change in the alternative construction of Fig. 10 is in the pro-hogging heads, other portions of the figure have been largely broken away.

The mode of operation of the mechanism thus illustrated may be summarized as follows: Traveling lumber stock is introduced in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 6 of the drawings and urged forwardly by the pineapple 26 and engages feed rolls II] and 29. These feed rolls Ill and 29 are driven at an'accelerated speed and the lumber stock arrives in end to end relation when contacting driven feed rolls I2 and I3. The lumber stock is supported on a fixed roll 29 in the feeding table and in the tunnel I I the lumber is being transferred from a fixed lower bed to a resiliently mounted lower bed. The driven feed rolls I2 and I3 are both resiliently mounted, and at this point the feeding is substantially resilient on both the upper surface and the lower surface contacting the lumber stock. The driven feed rolls I2 and I3 are driven atsubstantially the rate of speed of the planers. These feed rolls I2 and I3 urge the lumber stock forwardly past pre-edge jointers or hoggers l4 and I5. The traveling lumber is urged against the guide by the hold-over rolls 65. Pre-edge jointer I5 serves to skin off and true up the guide edge of the lumber stock, while the pre-edge jointer or hogger I l serves to remove all excess stock. The lumber then enters feeding means of the planer proper. At this time the lumber is transferred from a lower fixed bed to the lower resiliently supported fixed bed ll of the planer. The feeding beds It and I"? of the planer serve to urge the stock past the cutter heads I8, I9, 26, 2I and 22. Also the feed beds It and I? serve to isolate the shock and vibration caused by pre-hogging the stock from the final finishing cutter heads in the planer mechanism.

The rear end of the upper plate of the transfer The pre-hog-' means is quite freely resiliently mounted, while the rear end of the lower plate of the transfer means is fixedly pivotally mounted upon the frame. The front end of the upper plate of the transfer means is more stiflly resiliently mounted than the rear end of the upper plate. This resiliency is due to the mounting of the spring means. On the other hand the front end of the lower bed plate is relatively freely resiliently mounted so that the excess in thickness or unevenness of lumber now begins to project downwardly and thus compresses the lower resiliently mounted means, while the upper line of the lumber begins to approach more nearly the upper fixed bed-line of planer. Also it will be noted (see Fig. 5) that the upper feed roll I2 is mounted on arm, 46, which arm in turn is pivotally mounted on a stanchion M5 or projection of the frame I44. Arm 46 is pivotally connected to a link I32, which has a sleeve I34. The link I32 passes through said sleeve and is provided with spring I35, which bears against nut I36, Figs. 2 and 4. The sleeve I34 is operatively connected to a worm gear for fixedly adjusting the position of the upper feed roll. The link spring I35 is a relatively stiff spring and performs more the function of an emergency safety means rather than permitting the upper feed roll to move re ciprocably in response to the lumber passing thereunder during operation. That is, the upper roll I2 is almost a fixedly mounted roll. Thus again, it is emphasized that in our invention the upper means contacting the lumber, whether the same be a plate, or whether the same be a feed roll, is gradually progressively made less and less resilient. In this wise the said upper stock contacting means progressively presses the stock down until the upper side is in alignment with the fixed bed of the planer. The converse is true of the lower stock contacting means.

Obviously, changes may be made in the forms, dimensions and arrangement of the parts of our invention, without departing from the principle thereof, the above setting forth only preferred forms of embodiment.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a lumber feeding table provided with a fixed lower lumber feeding means and a resiliently supported upper lumber feeding means positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the lower lumber feeding means; a feeding device positioned in longitudinal spaced relation to said feeding table and provided with a fixed upper lumber feeding means and a resilient lower lumber feeding means positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper lumber feeding means; and transfer means adapted to transfer travelling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device, said transfer means comprising a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at each end portion and a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate being pivotally supported at the feeding table end portion and resiliently supported at the said feeding device end portion.

2. In a device of the class described, a lumber feeding table provided with a fixed lower lumber feeding means and a resiliently supported upper lumber feeding means positioned in operative vertically spaced'relation to the-lower lumber feeding means; a feeding device positioned in longitudinal spaced relation to said feeding table and provided with a fixed upper lumber feeding means and a resilient lower lumber feeding means positioned in operative vertical spaced relation tothe upper lumber feeding means; transfer means adapted to transfer travelling lumber from said feedingtable to said feeding device, said transfer means comprising a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at each end portion and a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced rela-. tion to the upper plate, said lower plate belng'pivotally supported at the feeding table end portion and resiliently supported at the said feeding device end portion; and a pro-edge jointer opera tively disposed between said feeding table and said feeding device and positioned to operate on the edges of lumber stock travelling thereby.

3. In a device of the class described, a lumber feeding table provided with a fixed lower lumber feeding means and a resiliently supported upper lumber feeding means positioned in operative vertically spaced relation to the lower lumber feeding means; a feeding device positioned in longitudinal spaced relation to said feeding table and provided with a fixed upper lumber feeding means and a resilient lower lumber feeding means positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper lumber feeding means; transfer means adapted to transfer traveling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device, said trans-- fer means comprising a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at the rear end portion and more stifily resiliently adjustably supported at the forward end; a lower longitudinal- 1y disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate as respects one end being pivotally sup ported at the feeding table end portion and resiliently supported at the said feeding device end portion; a pre-edge jointer operatively disposed f between said feeding table and said'feeding device and positioned to operate on the edges of lumber stock traveling thereby; and two spaced apart Vertically disposed resiliently mounted feed rolls urging said traveling lumber past said pre-edge jointer.

i. In a device per plate resiliently supported at the rear end,

and more stiifiy resiliently adjustably supported at the forward end and a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate as respects one end being pivotally supported at one end portion and resiliently supported at the other end portion and two spaced apart vertically disposed resiliently mounted feed rolls urging traveling lumberthrough said transfer means.

5. In a device of the class described a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at the rear end, and more stiffly resiliently adjustably supported at the forward end; and a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate as respects one end being table and provided with an upper lumber feed-- ing means and a retractable lower feeding means positioned in operative vertical spaced relation of the class described, transfer means comprising a longitudinally disposed up- 1 thereto; transfer means adapted to transfer traveling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device, said transfer .means comprising a longitudinally disposed upper plate and a lower retractable longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper plate; and means interconnecting the lower retractable lumber feeding means of the feeding device and the lower retractable longitudinally disposed plate of the transfer means,

whereby in the event of lumber break-ups in the device, the lower retractable feeding means and the lower retractable plate may be moved together to permit rapid and efiicient removal of broken pieces of lumber. '7. In a device of the class described, a lumber feeding table provided with vertically disposed lumber feeding means; a feeding device positioned in longitudinal spaced relationto said feeding table and provided withvertically dis posed lumber feeding means, one of which is mounted for retractile movement; transfer means adapted to transfer traveling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device, said transfer means comprisingv longitudinally disposed ver tically spaced apart plates, one of which is'mounted for retractile movement; and means interconnectingthe lumber feeding meansof the feeding device mounted for retractile movement and the longitudinally disposed plate of the transfer means mounted for retractile movement whereby in the event of lumber breakmps in the device, the retractable feeding means and the retractable plate may be moved together to permit 'rapidand efficient removal of broken pieces of lumber.

8. Ina device of the class described, a lumber feeding table provided with vertically disposed lumber feeding means; a feeding device positioned in longitudinal spaced relation to said feeding table andprovided with vertically disposed lumber feeding means, one of which is mounted for retractile movement; transfer means adapted to transfer traveling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device, said transfer means cornprising longitudinally disposed vertically spaced apart plates, one of which is mounted for; re-,

tractile movement; two spaced apart vertically disposed feed rolls urging lumber throughsaid transfer means, one of which feed rolls is mounted for retractile movement; and means interconnecting the lumber feeding means of the feeding device mounted for retractilemovemenhthe longitudinally disposed plate of the transfer means mounted for retractile movement, and thefeed roll mounted for retractile movement, whereby in the event of lumber break-ups in thedevicathe retractable feeding means, the retractable plate and the retractable roll may be moved together to permit rapid and efficient removal of broken pieces of lumber.

9.,In a device of the class described, a lumber feeding table provided with vertically disposed lumber feeding means; a feeding device positioned in longitudinally spaced relation to said feeding table and provided with vertically disposed lumber feeding means, one of which is mounted for retractile movement; transfer means adapted to transfer traveling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device; two vertically spaced apart feed rolls urging traveling lumber through said transfer means, one of which feed rolls is mounted for retractile movement; and means interconnecting the lumber feeding means of the feeding device mounted for retractile movement and the said roll mounted for retractile movement, whereby in the event of lumber break-ups in the device the retractable feeding means and the retractable feed roll may be moved together to permit rapid and efficient removal of broken pieces of lumber.

10. A device of the class described embodying a preedge jointer mechanism; a feeding device comprising two spaced apart vertically disposed resiliently mounted feed rolls operatively disposed with respect to said pre-edge jointer; a lumber feeding table provided with a fixed lower feeding means and a resiliently supported upper feeding means positioned in operative vertically spaced relation to the lower lumber feeding means; transfer means adapted to transfer traveling lumber from said feeding table to said feeding device, said transfer means comprising a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at the rear end and more stifliy resiliently adjustably supported at the forward end; and a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertical spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate being pivotally supported in the feeding table end portion and resiliently supported at the said feeding device end portion; a lumber stock edge guide means; and hold-over roll urging traveling lumber against said lumber stock guide means.

11, In a device of the class described a frame; a feed roll; a pivotally mounted housing, carrying said feed roll; and longitudinally disposed upper and lower plates forming a passageway for lumber, said upper plate having a mounting means comprising, a link, a pin pivotally mounting one end of said link to said housing, a longitudinally disposed rod, a bell crank pivotally mounted on said frame having one arm pivotally connected to said link and the other arm connected to said rod by a spring mounted pivotal means, an eye bolt slidingly and pivotally connected to said pin as respects one end and the other end pivotally connected to the end portion of said upper plate, a spring carried by said eye bolt and bearing on said plate and said pin, a second bell crank pivotally mounted on the frame having one arm pivotally connected to the forward end of the upper plate and the other arm pivotally connected to the forward end of said rod.

12. In a device of the class described a frame; a feed roll; a pivotally mounted housing carrying said feed roll; longitudinally disposed upper and lower plates forming a passageway for lumber, said upper plate having a mounting means comprising, a link, a pin pivotally mounting one end of, said link to said housing, a longitudinally disposed rod, a bell crank pivotally mounted on said frame having one arm pivotally connected to said link and the other arm connected to said rod by a spring mounted pivotal means, an eye bolt slidingly and pivotally connected to said pin as respects one end and the other end pivotally connected to the end portion of said upper plate, a spring carried by said eye bolt and bearing on said plate and said pin, a second bell crank pivotally mounted on the frame having one arm pivotally connected to the upper plate and the other arm pivotally connected to the forward end of said rod; an arm pivotally connected to the frame; a resilient means supporting said arm; an eye member carried by said arm; a bolt pivotally connected to the forward end of said lower plate and passing through said eye member; and a spring operatively disposed on said link between said eye member and said pivotal connection with the plate.

13. In a device of the class described, a frame; a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at the rear end and more stifily resiliently supported at the forward end; a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertically spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate being at the rear end fixedly pivotally connected to said frame; and a stanchion mounted on said frame, an arm pivotally connected to said stanchion, an eye member carried by said arm, a bolt pivotally connected to the forward end of said lower plate and passing through said eye member, a spring operatively disposed on said bolt between said eye member and said pivotal connection with the plate.

14. In a device of the class described a frame; a longitudinally disposed upper plate resiliently supported at the rear end and more stifily resiliently supported at the forward end; a lower longitudinally disposed plate positioned in operative vertically spaced relation to the upper plate, said lower plate being at the rear end fixedly pivotally connected to said frame; a stanchion mounted on said frame, an arm pivotally connected to said stanchion, an eye member carried by said arm, a bolt pivotally connected to the forward end of said lower plate and passing through said eye member, a spring operatively disposed on said bolt between said eye member and said pivotal connection with the plate; a shaft mounted in one end of said arm; a lower feed roll mounted on said shaft; a lower feed bed member hingedly connected to said shaft as respects one end portion and the other end portion being connected to resilient supporting means; a pro-edge jointer mounted intermediate the length of said feed bed member; a second arm pivotally connected to said stanchion; a second shaft mounted in one end of said second arm; an adjusting supporting link pivotally connected to said second arm; a rela tively stifi spring operatively mounted on said supporting link; an upper feed roll mounted on said second shaft operatively disposed with re spect to said lower feed roll; an upper bed member hingedly mounted on said second shaft as respects one end; a planer feeding mechanism comprising an upper fixedly mounted endless feed bed and a resiliently mounted lower endless feed bed; a link means connecting the said upper endless feed bed with the forward end of said upper feed bed member; and link means connecting the lower endless feed bed with the forward end of said lower feed bed member.

FREDERICK A. NICHOLSON. WILMOT T. PRITCHARD. 

